March Madness 2018: Florida Gators get No. 6 seed in NCAA Tournament bracket

By Adam Silverstein
March 11, 2018
March Madness 2018: Florida Gators get No. 6 seed in NCAA Tournament bracket
Basketball

Image Credit: ESPN Images

Back in college basketball’s biggest event for the second consecutive year, the Florida Gators (20-12) on Sunday were announced as a No. 6 seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament‘s East Region.

The Gators will open play on Thursday, March 15 in Dallas as a favorite against the No. 11 seed play-in opponent, either St. Bonaventure or UCLA. The game will be the final one played late Thursday night on truTV, likely around 10 p.m. ET. Florida is 2-0 all-time against St. Bonaventure with the last meeting coming on Nov. 17, 2016. UF is also 4-0 against UCLA with victories in 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2014 — all NCAA Tournament games.

Should Florida advance, it would take on either No. 3 Texas Tech or No. 14 Stephen F. Austin. In an interesting twist, both potential opponents are located in the Lone Star State, meaning the Gators would be playing what may amount to a true road game in Dallas against a hometown favorite. UF is 2-0 against TT and has never played SFA on the hardwood. That makes the Gators 8-0 all-time against the four potential opponents in their opening-weekend quadrant.

For the updating 2018 NCAA Tournament bracket, click here.

Here is the entire seed list for the East Region.

1. Villanova
2. Purdue
3. Texas Tech
4. Wichita State
5. West Virginia
6. Florida
7. Arkansas
8. Virginia Tech
9. Alabama
10. Butler
11. St. Bonaventure / UCLA
12. Murray State
13. Marshall
14. Stephen F. Austin
15. Cal State Fullerton
16. LIU Brooklyn / Radford

Florida, which ranked No. 21 on the seed list, is 2-2 against its bracket (1-1 vs. Alabama, 1-1 vs. Arkansas). It is the second straight year that UF is in a bracket with No. 1-seed Villanova and Virginia Tech, which is redshirt junior guard Jalen Hudson’s original school. The Gators did not wind up playing the Wildcats or Hokies in last year’s tournament.

UF is 42-16 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with five straight Elite Eight appearances (2011-14, 2017) as the Gators did not make the tournament in 2015-16. Head coach Mike White is the first coach in Florida history to earn tournament berths in two of his first three seasons.

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